Without Mikel Brown Jr., No. 6 seed Louisville tips off vs. No. 11 USF

Without Mikel Brown Jr., No. 6 seed Louisville tips off vs. No. 11 USF

It’s protected to say Pat Kelsey’s second season at Louisville hasn’t gone solely to plan.

Yes, the Cardinals are again within the NCAA Tournament, incomes the No. 6 seed within the East Region. But expectations have been greater for the crew, which was chosen to complete second within the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.

A giant a part of these hopes fell on star freshman level guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has been extremely efficient however has missed 12 video games attributable to a again damage.

Brown sat out final week’s ACC event and, on Wednesday, was dominated out for the primary two rounds of the NCAA Tournament — together with Thursday afternoon when Louisville (23-10) faces No. 11 seed South Florida (25-8) in Buffalo, NY

“He made great progress last week,” Kelsey mentioned Monday. “We’ll see how the next couple days of practice go.”

Brown, who averages 18.2 factors and a team-high 4.7 assists per sport, is a catalyst for the Cardinals. Louisville is 16-5 and averages 88.1 factors in video games he is performed in and is 7-5 and averaging 81.7 in video games he is missed.

The Bulls, in the meantime, have rallied from tragedy for a outstanding season. The program employed Bryan Hodgson from Arkansas State final March after earlier head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, 43, died attributable to problems throughout a medical process in October 2024.

Hodgson has led South Florida to its first NCAA Tournament look since 2012. The Bulls entered on an 11-game successful streak, with their final loss approaching Jan. 31 at Temple. Six of their final seven wins have come by a minimum of 15 factors, however Hodgson mentioned he is not glad with what he is seen.

“I think we could still play a little bit better. Put together elite performances on both sides of the ball,” he mentioned Monday. “We’ll need to do that on Thursday to beat Louisville.”

Division II switch Wes Enis is coming into his personal on the Division I stage coming into the postseason. He’s scored a minimum of 19 factors in every of the final 5 video games to assert the South Florida crew lead at 16.8 factors per contest. Izaiyah Nelson, who adopted Hodgson from Arkansas State, is shut behind at 15.7 ppg to go along with 9.6 rebounds per sport.

Enis, regardless of being new to this stage, is not missing in confidence.

“I don’t think it’s an upset. I think we’re the better team,” Enis mentioned of South Florida’s potential as an underdog. “I don’t really care what (the seeds) say.”

Even with Brown sidelined, Louisville isn’t missing in expertise. Ryan Conwell averages a team-high 18.7 factors a sport, J’Vonne Hadley (11.8 ppg) is a forty five.6% 3-point shooter, and Isaac McKneely (10.6 ppg) brings postseason expertise from his three seasons at Virginia.

With the Bulls and Cardinals each rating within the prime 20 nationally in scoring and common offensive possession size, these groups’ run-and-gun kinds ought to convey a frenetic tempo to Thursday’s matchup.

“I think we’re ready for that challenge because we like to get up and down (the court) too,” McKneely mentioned. “I think that’ll please us, getting to play at our pace.”

This would be the first matchup between the previous American Athletic Conference opponents since February 2014. Louisville leads the all-time sequence 29-4.

The Cardinals are in search of their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2017, whereas the Bulls most just lately had one in 2012.

–Field Level Media